Despite an onslaught of redundancies in 2023 (in the UK, redundancies increased by 39,000 to 102,000) the job market remains dynamic and vacancies still remain above pre-pandemic levels.
However, that doesn’t mean job seekers can effectively put their feet up and wait for the job offers to start rolling in.
In fact, the tech job market is becoming increasingly competitive and at a recent tech event held by jobs site Indeed, data analysts Darina Jiang and Alexander Groutides shared that job seeker growth is outpacing the number of open positions being advertised to the tune of 20%.
Indeed’s data also highlighted that for tech workers, personal referrals are trumping organic applications and in 2023, 80% of tech applications were organic but only accounted for 50% of all hires.
The main takeaway? If you want to secure a new job in 2024 and bag the role you want, you’ll need to be strategic.
With this in mind, we asked three recruiters to share their top job hunting tips. Here’s what they had to say.
Don’t rely on AI
There’s no disputing the efficacy of automation when it comes to job applications but being overly reliant on ChatGPT to do all the hard work for you won’t pay off, as Monica Berry, talent acquisition at Pets at Home, a leading e-commerce business, reveals.
“I was looking at a couple of CVs that had come through and this candidate was a £22k a year candidate and they had written their CV like they were a head of department,” she detailed.
“You can really tell when somebody has done an AI CV. I’ve seen it mostly within finance [roles] but it’s fast becoming the thing to do.”
Her advice to job candidates is to be as authentic as possible when detailing your skills and experience as this will always read better.
“Candidates are being pushed to use AI to come across as more professional, but what you end up with is people with minimal experience using AI to bulk up their CVs. It’s probably working for them in terms of getting interviews, but then you get to the interview and they’re not as good as they say they are.”
Replace your cover letter with a mission statement
“A lot of our roles are technical so finding people with that technical expertise [is a challenge],” offers Amy Hobley who is executive recruitment manager at Sopra Steria, a software company that employs 46,000 people worldwide.
And while you might think a detailed cover letter is the best way to make your application stand out, Hobley instead recommends that candidates use their cover letter as a chance to highlight their values and what kind of work culture they are looking for.
“A strong mission statement, what they are looking for, what’s their purpose, what are they hoping to achieve from their next role,” she elaborates.
“You might not have all the experience, but if you’re willing to learn and grow and develop and pick up new skills that sets you a good foundation.”
Be flexible about work location
Despite an increasing number of employers insisting employees return to the office, the debate around remote work isn’t going anywhere, particularly in relation to tech workers.
But flexibility around work location needs to work both ways, as Scarlett Fisher, a senior tech recruiter at Entain, an international sports betting and gambling company, explains.
“It’s good to be able to talk to people face-to-face. Having certain meetings is a lot easier, because someone’s always dropping off a Teams call. Someone’s not unmuting. It’s a lot of things that go on.”
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